November 10 through November 18 (Click on the images to see and scroll them in full size)
Thursday, November 10 we anchored at Bashi Creek. It was a good anchorage and we took the Zodiacs up the river to the lake. The next morning we went through our last lock on the rivers, the Coffeeville lock. Now we are in tidal waters and salt water finally. That night we anchored at the Alabama River Cutoff which was a good anchorage but when we were leaving, we had two stuck anchors we eventually managed to recover, but it was close.
Saturday, November 12 we arrived in Mobile Bay, lots of big ships, and scary trip into Grand Mariner Marina. Strong north winds, 2 foot waves and 5 feet of depth made taking Dog River channel tough. We decided to stay put at Grand Mariner Marina the next day because more strong winds were forecast. Strong winds, shallow depth and no local knowledge is not a good combination. Tomorrow will be better. Had brunch and played golf (Cards) with Glenn and Carol from Encore
Monday, we crossed the bay and stayed at Fairhope Docks Marina and I found a major leak leak in our fresh water system, a broken "T" near the water pump was draining our port water tank and half of our water into the bilge. I had to pull 250 pounds of batteries to get at it, that part of the engine compartment is NOT meant for bigger guys! Also in the vein of when it rains it pours, the generator stopped pumping cooling water.
The next day we stayed again at the Fairhope Docks Marina and I replaced the impeller on the generator, chased down the broken pieces of the impeller and replaced the bad T on water system with Glenn's help. The staff at the marina are amazing, but we rolled all night long because there was no protection from waves coming in from the west.
Tuesday, November 16 we left Fairhope and joined the Intracostal Waterway or ICW. To celebrate, we ate at Lulu's, Jimmy Buffet's sister's restaurant. That night we anchored at Ingram Bayou which was really pretty. We are starting to see lots of sunk or grounded boats that have just been left to decay from previous hurricanes.
We officially arrived in Florida at 09:00 Thursday, November 17th. When I saw the first dolphins in our bow wave I jumped up and down like a little kid! The next night we anchored at Spectre Island. Got down to 34 degrees in the morning. So glad the heater works in the boat.
The next day, we crossed several large bays, lots of navigating. Glad Glenn is watching my back as the navigation is challenging. I thought we were done with passing barges, but I guess not. It gets really tight sometimes. That night, we stayed at Bay Point Marina in Panama City Beach. Again, a really narrow channel (around 15 feet wide) about 5 feet deep and 2 feet or less if you get out of the channel.
Right now the plan is to anchor out one more night after we leave here and be in Carabelle Florida by Monday night. There we will wait for a weather window to make our 16 hour Gulf crossing, 35 miles off shore, AT NIGHT! We might get the weather this week, or it might be in 2 weeks, good crossing weather doesn't happen that often this time of year.
God is good-you only had boat trouble when you got back to civilization!!